Links
-
Adam Curtis: The TV elite has lost the plot | The Register
‘Power of Nightmares’ etc creator on the BBC and other media being scared, the faults of blogs, user-generated content. “It’s a time of great technical invention but it’s a time of [artistic] stagnation.”
-
A List Apart: Articles: Understanding Web Design
Zeldman on how too few people understand what web design is. Hence dumb flashy sites winning web design awards. (via Infovore)
-
Graphpaper.com - What I Learned in Art School (Is it Design Thinking?)
A list of skills learned in art school that aren’t hands-on crafting skills. These are the best things about such places I think (via Purse Lip Square Jaw via Rodcorp)
-
Danny O’Brien’s Oblomovka - Celebrating ORG’s Second Birthday
The Open Rights Group is doing fantastic things for the UK online world. I joined when they started and if you join now the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust will match your contribution. Go!
-
How to run Greasemonkey scripts in Safari - Simplehelp
Handy, works with Password Composer. Keep trying to switch to Safari but end up going back to Firefox for all the extras.
-
Under the Radar - Miki Berenyi
Nice down-to-earth interview with the Lush lead singer. Reading about ex-pop stars having normal lives is odd. (via Blackbeltjones)
-
Soundtrack To War
Good 90 minute documentary on what music US troops in Iraq, and Iraqis, listen to and make. Mostly: white troops listen to metal, black troops to rap.
-
Dashing Tweeds » Tailored Outfits - Cycle Suit
Splendid cycling tweed outfits with reflective thread and Teflon coating. Splendid. (via Haddock)
-
Marseille Figs
Much much more on the band.
-
Room Thirteen - Where Music Rocks - Marseille Figs - The Dirty Canon
Good review for Dorian and co’s new album, which is very fine.
-
Interview: Phil Gyford | Wordsy
A half-hour interview with me about Pepys’ Diary, in mp3.
-
The RoundCube Webmail Project
Nice looking, free, open source web-based IMAP email client.
-
NUJ Freelance Fees Guide: Photography - Books - rates
Handy guide to examples of rates for use of photography. (via Haddock)
-
YouTube - What’s He Building?
Excellent Tom Waits track. I love the (spoken) lyrics and the video lives up to them. (via Haddock)
-
Outbound Cargos - Mens Trousers
Winner of the inaugural Phil Gyford Best New Trouser of the Year Competition. I’m very, very picky about trousers, but these are comfortable, long enough, look fine and, best of all, have superb pocketage.
-
spEak You’re bRanes
Amazing but depressing selection of comments left on the BBC ‘Have Your Say’ site. cf Mitchell & Webb’s “You may not know anything about the issue, but I bet you reckon something.” (via Ben Hammersley)
-
Russell davies: buffy - in our own time
Fantastic ‘In Our Time’ style mp3 discussing ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’. Made me want to go and watch it all over again.
-
Johnaugust.com » The Hollywood Standard
Recommendation of a book about the technical aspects of writing a film script, how to lay it out, etc. With a few caveats.
-
Best Literature Blog - The 2007 Weblog Awards
Please vote for Pepys’ Diary, currently in second place. We need your vote! Vote early and often (yes you can vote once every 24 hours). Thanks!
-
Amazon.co.uk: One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success: Books: Marci Alboher
Also sounds cringeworthy (like most self-help books) but possibly ideal. (via Oliver Burkeman in the Guardian)
-
Amazon.co.uk: What Do I Do When I Want to Do Everything?: A Revolutionary Programme for Doing Everything That You Love: Books: Barbara Sher
The idea of self-help books makes me cringe, but this does sound intriguing… (via Oliver Burkeman in the Guardian)
-
PsyBlog: Why Career Planning Is Time Wasted
The group who chose their sandwiches for the week in advance “are significantly less happy with their choices than the group who chose their sandwiches on the day.” (via Haddock)
-
ScienceDirect - Journal of Vocational Behavior : The role of chance events in career decision making
“Chance events were reported as influencing the career decisions of 69.1% of the sample.” (via Haddock)
-
Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert | Excerpt
“Most of us spend our lives steering ourselves toward the best of all possible futures, only to find that tomorrow rarely turns out as we had presumed.” “Happiness is not really what or where we thought it was.” (via Haddock)
-
Leopard finally supporting ssh-agent at login
To remember when I upgrade. (via Blech)
-
Demonstration at St Pancras International, 14 - 11- 2007 — Camden Cycling Campaign
One of the downsides of the new station: stupid little bike racks (obviously designed years ago by someone who never used a bike) a long way from anywhere useful.
-
A MySQL Abstraction Class For PHP
Sounds lovely, and probably better than the one of my own I’ve been using in various places for years. (via Infovore)
-
What bugs me is not identity fraud but who will be watchdog to BBC’s Watchdog
Funny piece by Toby Young about Watchdog’s Facebook identity theft scare mongering. (via ObLinks)
-
Mudd up! » archive » Defending the Pig - Oink Croaks
A nice defence and obituary for Oink, by an artist whose music was shared by people on the site. (via Infovore)
-
Major pirate website shut down | | Guardian Unlimited Business
This is even worse. Appalling reporting from Katie Allen, using FACT, Trading Standards and the British Video Association as her only source of quotes. (via Haddock)